CHAPTER 96: LEARNING MAGIC

After a while, which Arthur is convinced must be hours and not just a few minutes, Aldriana finally opens her eyes.

Arthur springs up. "Can you treat him? He has broken ribs, hasn’t he?"

Aldriana nods. "Yes, to both. Yes, I can treat him, and yes, several of his ribs are broken. But not all breaks are the same. Some are full breaks, some are only fractures. But it will still hurt like hell."

Julian winces immediately.

"However," Aldriana adds quickly.

She sighs before continuing. "Since healing is much more complicated than other spells, and because there are several broken ribs, I would prefer to do it over a few hours rather than all in one go. This way—"

"You mean you’re not doing it now, but several hours later?" Julian cuts in, voice cracking like he’s afraid of the pain.

"I have not finished explaining," Aldriana says flatly. "And judging from your question, I clearly didn’t explain it properly. So now listen. And do not interrupt me."

Julian nods fast.

"I will treat your ribs over the span of several hours. I have several reasons. One, healing is much more complicated than regular spells. Two, it will be far less painful for you. And three, your body needs to rest. The rest of us too."

She continues, "Healing magic basically accelerates your natural healing process. Broken ribs can heal without much pain as long as you don’t move them, and because it happens slowly. So that is exactly what I’m going to do: accelerate your natural process instead of forcing a full instant reset."

She looks at him. "Questions?"

Julian shakes his head.

"Good. Now, we need to find a place for you to lie down flat, like you’re sleeping. Which..." She looks around.

"This cave is perfect. We’ll move further in. All of us can rest. Especially the two of you." She glances at Maeve and Julian.

She gets up and heads deeper into the cave to find a spot to treat Julian. She sees his backpack and several of his inventions. She turns to him.

"You were here before?"

Julian nods. "Yeah, I used this cave to rest. That was before I met Maeve. Some of my things are still here. I even made a makeshift bed. I didn’t have time to pack up. The haelions were already at the entrance."

"Good, this will do."

She raises her hand and Julian suddenly floats upward, drifting toward her.

"WHOA!" Julian yelps — then immediately grins. "I’m flying!"

He’s grinning from ear to ear, then winces again.

Arthur takes out several camping gears from his space bracelet and hands them to Liam. They quickly set up a small campsite for everyone to rest.

"I’ll take first shift," Liam says. "You guys go ahead and rest."

Arthur nods. "Thanks, Liam." He turns to help Aldriana with Julian and Maeve.

Julian is lying flat on his sleeping air mattress, his T-shirt lifted to expose his right ribs.

He settles in and looks at Aldriana. "Ready."

"Okay. I’ll start."

She places both hands above his ribs. Soon, gentle tiny green lights appear and fall continuously on the injured area.

Aldriana glances at Julian. "Feel anything?"

He shakes his head. "No, actually. Just a little tingling. Kind of ticklish."

"It will take a few hours. You should sleep," she says, standing up.

"Wait, that’s it? My ribs will heal in a few hours? You don’t have to stay here?" Julian looks confused. He assumed she would need to sit beside him the whole time.

"Yes, I don’t have to." She turns away and leaves.

Maeve has been next to Aldriana the entire time, watching the healing process closely. She had hoped to learn more, so she feels a bit disappointed.

She quietly moves away and sets up her own sleeping spot with one of the sleeping bags Arthur provided.

"It just occurs to me," Arthur says, frowning at Julian. "Why didn’t you bring your space bracelet? You brought your backpack instead?"

"Ah, that." Julian grins. "I wanted to expand the capacity, so it’s still upgrading."

Arthur shakes his head. "Don’t you know what rest means?" He leaves Julian to settle down and goes to his own spot.

Aldriana is standing not far from him.

"I guess this means we’re not exiting the dungeon?" she asks quietly.

"If he’s fine in a few hours, then we should continue," Arthur answers in the same low voice.

Liam, who is not far, shifts closer so he can hear. He arrives just as Aldriana says, "You know, I can go and find the Dungeon King and kill him myself. You guys don’t need to come."

Arthur nods. "Yeah, we know you can. But this isn’t just about clearing the dungeon. I want to search for survivors, dead or alive."

"Can you search for them?" he asks her.

She sighs. "I can, and I did when I was looking for Julian. But unfortunately, I didn’t detect any other humans. I’m sorry."

Silence. All three think of the thirty to forty people reported missing.

"Liam, you don’t need to guard the entrance. Just rest. I’ll put up a shield strong enough to stop any haelions from barging in."

"I know we’re all tired. I may be brimming with mana, but my physical body has limits."

Liam looks at her. "I know. I figured you’d say that. And I’ll rest. But I want to train. You said the thing you wanted me to feel was mana. And you said this place is full of mana, so this is the best place to practice, right?"

"You really want to train?" Aldriana asks.

"Yes." Liam nods. "I was serious when I said I want to be able to do what you can do. And if that means learning magic, I’ll learn. But..."

He scratches his head. "I don’t want to be the guy standing at the back, just shouting spells. I still want to fight at the front. I’m a Sentinel. But now I want to be a Sentinel who can also use magic."

Aldriana looks at him in silence.

Then she nods. "Okay. And I did promise to teach you. I was just wondering how, because you didn’t know about mana and I couldn’t exactly tell you that magic still exists."

She glances at Maeve. "And it’s not extinct like the rest of the world thinks."

Arthur also glances at Maeve. Everything that has happened since he met Aldriana has shattered his logic. He has been forced to accept and adapt, or he’ll break. He learned that lesson a long time ago, back when he fought haelions before becoming a CEO.

He clears his throat. "May I also learn?"